Isopod Updates Galore!

Late last year I got a package from the GOAT Edwin Lopez of Ezeddie, who kindly gifted me some isopods! One of which being an Armadillidium species I've wanted to work with for a couple years, Armadillidium germanicum. These are a relatively flat species that prefers semi-humid, cool conditions and likes clinging to/hiding underneath flat bark hides. They are a dark grey, almost black color in person, with bright yellow spots going down the middle of their bodies.

I've got them set up in a well ventilated container with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped with flat bark hides and leaf litter. I'm keeping them at around 72-75F°, and am keeping a third of the enclosure humid, the rest dry. I'm feeding them dog food as their supplemental diet.

They've been breeding decently well for me so far, and I hope to have a large population established soon! 😁

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Over the past several months I have acquired Cubaris sp. "Pak Chong - Cherry Blossom", a beautiful pink morph of a hardy isopod species, from two different sources (namely Tennyson Kingsley/Billy Yadeskie and Isorare Pods). Both are quite beautiful, though I am keeping them separately in case there are minor differences in the cultures.

I am keeping both in moderately ventilated enclosures with coco fiber substrate topped in bark and leaf litter. Keeping them fairly humid, at around 75-80F°, and am feeding them cichlid pellets as their supplemental diet.

Here are some pictures of Tennyson's line:

A very pretty, very pink strain of isopod, and I've got babies in both my bins already! 😄

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My Filippinodillo sp. "Cordova" are absolutely popping off, definitely quite a hardy species! I really love the variable coloration on these, and the high yellow coloration on some of the immatures.

Really need me one of the super flat or otherwise unusually shaped Filippinodillo spp., here's hoping more of them become available here as time goes on!

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Lastly, another one of the gifts Edwin sent me was a culture of Spherillo sp. "Hainan - Black", which I then supplemented with additional individuals from a trade with Catch Connelly. These are one of a couple Spherillo species in culture with highly rounded, "spoon" shaped terminal segments. These are active, fast moving pods, and they have a silvery grey, powdery coating to their dark grey/black exoskeletons.

I've got mine housed in a well ventilated setup with a thin layer of coco fiber substrate topped in bark, moss and leaf litter. I'm keeping them humid, at around 75F°, and am feeding them dog food as their supplemental diet.

They are doing quite well for me so far and are breeding nicely, definitely one of the more unique isopods in culture ATM.

Well, that does it for this update, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉 

Loboptera Locality Comparisons & More Cockroach Stuff!

I got some Loboptera decipiens "EU Hobby Stock" from Satchell Watts-Kerr at the beginning of last year, which are a couple generations into their breeding and still going strong! This is a cute European species with vestigial wings, and an overall black coloration with white margins around their bodies. This stock sadly does not have locality data, I suspect they are from Greece but can not confirm this.

I have them set up in a gallon jar with a fully vented lid. They have a thin substrate of coco fiber, topped with eggrcates for hides. I'm keeping them on a 50/50 humidity gradient, and have them at around 75-85F°. They are being fed dog food and apple slices as their staple diet.

A cute species for sure, and this line in particular has rather thick white margins, and banded legs.

But wait, we aren't done talking about L.decipiens! Because last year, I also obtained a locality stock of this species from "Trastevere, Rome, Italy". This line is a bit smaller than the EU hobby stock, with thinner white margins and darker, monotone legs. Care seems much the same, I have these set up identically to the "EU Hobby Stock", and they are now thriving for me as well!

AFAIK I'm the only one with a breeding culture of this locality stock at the moment, though hopefully that will change now that I have them available. 😊

And now for some comparison photos between the two stocks:

"EHS" (top) vs "Trastevere" (bottom)

"EHS" (left) vs "Trastevere" (right)

This is such a cute species, one that I hope catches on in popularity in the US hobby as either an occasional feeder species, or just as an oddity pet!

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My Parcoblatta americana "Table Rock, Boise, Idaho" are still going strong, it's been a while since I took any photos of them, and I specifically wanted to get some decent shots of an adult pair together, which I think I achieved. 😄

The female was definitely the more photogenic of the two, but I think I got a couple OK pair shots in there. 😅

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The Perisphaerus horaianus colony is thriving now, absolutely exploding in population, which I just love to see! It seems providing them with wood hides instead of only bark really helped boost their numbers, as well as switching them to a humidity gradient rather than keeping the entire enclosure humid.

This is but a fraction of my colony, crazy to think just a couple years ago I was really struggling to get these to breed for me!

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I finally reacquired a group of Pycnoscelus cf. rufa this year (ex. P.tenebrigera), and they've been doing well and have bred for me. I also managed to get some decent pair shots of these, which I'm happy about. 😄

It's insane how vibrantly colored the adult males of this species are, compared to other Pycnoscelus spp.. 😍 I have yet to keep P.striatus, but those are the only Pycnoscelus I could imagine holding a candle to these. 

Anyways, that's gonna do it for this post! Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time!